shortening : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: shortening	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for shortening
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
shortening n fat such as butter or lard used in baked goods act of decreasing in length; "the dress needs shortening"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Shorten \Short"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Shortened [?]}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Shortening}.] [See {Short}, a.] 1. To make short or shorter in measure, extent, or time; as, to shorten distance; to shorten a road; to shorten days of calamity. 2. To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen; to abridge; to curtail; to contract; as, to shorten work, an allowance of food, etc. Here, where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by my chain. --Dryden. 3. To make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of. Spoiled of his nose, and shortened of his ears. --Dryden. 4. To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like. {To shorten a rope} (Naut.), to take in the slack of it. {To shorten sail} (Naut.), to reduce sail by taking it in.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Shortening \Short"en*ing\, n. 1. The act of making or becoming short or shorter. 2. (Cookery) That which renders pastry short or friable, as butter, lard, etc.